


i get carried away (i'm sorry, sorry about that)

by natashass



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sports, Background Relationships, F/F, Seulrene, baseball AU, moonsun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-21
Updated: 2016-04-21
Packaged: 2018-06-03 14:15:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6613906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natashass/pseuds/natashass
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>5 times Yoo Jeongyeon almost asked Myoui Mina out and that one time she didn’t.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i get carried away (i'm sorry, sorry about that)

**Author's Note:**

> the hs sports au fic no one asked for!!! I WROTE THIS LONG BEFORE THAT BASEBALL MATCH AND SPORTS-RELATED PICS BEFORE THEIR COMEBACK. 
> 
> this is my guilty pleasure rare ship pls just let me live
> 
> title from passion pit’s song Carried Away, sort of inspired by the video hehe enjoy (you’ll see which scene did). thank u izzy for watching over this!!!

 

**_#1_ **

 

Her foot skids, creates a cloud of sand around them and she knows—she knows they've already won the game. Her body makes contact with the ground but she's still moving across the floor. It's hot from the sun, she's probably burned a hole into her uniform.

The blood in her ears drowns out the screams of the crowd and her eyes sting from the particles of sand but she knows they've won the game.

She last saw the ball from the center fielder because she hit it that far, and she isn't sure where it is now—but she has has to win this game.

The dust clears. The sound of the crowd seeps in slowly. Her teammates leave the stand and run to her and before she knows it, Jeongyeon is at the bottom of the body pile and drowns amidst, "you did it, champ!", "we're the champions!" and "MVP 2kforever!"

She knew they would win. Jeongyeon knew.

She's being hoisted up in the air, showered in an energy drink but it's still not as sweet as the love that her teammates give her.

They won.

 

The party is loud, but she finds solace in Nayeon's large and elegant kitchen, thankful that there were no people sucking faces (or even more) from where she sat now.

If she weren't so tired from today, Jeongyeon would have been where the house party was at its apex that not even a strained calf could have stopped her from joining the crowd gathering around Momo, who is currently chugging a tower filled with strawberry mixed drink. She would even help Momo chug.

She'd wanted to bail, but she could never turn down a full-blown pouting situation from both Jihyo, Nayeon and Chaeyoung.

 _Damn them and their cuteness,_ Jeongyeon thinks, downing the last of her vodka and tapping the rim of the red cup. There were very little things she could deny the three of them.

A loud yell from her teammates from the veranda tells her that they've won the vodka pong.

Her phone pings, and she pulls her phone out of her pockets and sees it's a message from Coach Yubin.

 

 **[10:40:31 PM] Coach Yubin:** Saw the hole on your uniform. If you weren't a champ, I would've gone ballistic. I'll order a new one for you.

 

She types back a response, though three dots appear and, with a woosh, another blue text bubble moved up on her phone.

 

 **[10:40:40 PM] Coach Yubin:** Sorry I couldn't join you guys tonight.Have fun, kiddos! You deserve it.

  
"Your smile's as bright as the sun, who're you texting? Your new girlfriend?"  
  
She types back, _Thanks coach. Don't forget you're a champ too!!! See you real soon. And thanks for replacing my uniform hehe sorry bout that_ , and pockets her phone. "It's Coach Yubin congratulating the team. And, no, ew. Have you seen her and Coach Sunmi of the cheer leading squad? They're are all over each other. It's cute and also gross."  
  
"Ah, so that's where the cheerleader-and-baseball girlfriends trend came from."  
  
Jeongyeon laughs. "Yeah, I think so. It started with their batch, if I'm not wrong. It started with and I think Bom and Dara too?"  
  
"And now," Jaebum counts with his fingers, "Nayeon and Jihyo, previously you and Nayeon, Momo and Sana, Tzuyu and Chaeng. Huh. How nice."  
  
Jeongyeon blushes slightly. "If anything, it's not just in our school. I mean, have you seen SME Academy's teams? Their coaches are girlfriends too. Coaches Taeyeon and Tiffany have been together since high school. I'm not sure about Jessica and Yuri, but I do know that Sooyoung and Sunny are still living together. Seulgi and Joohyun just got together recently," she snickers, fondly recalling all the nights Seulgi had called her and Jihyo, having panic episodes about her feelings for the captain of the cheer leading team.  
  
("Kang, did you just climb up my balcony?!" Jeongyeon yells as much as she can through a whisper. "Do you have any idea what time it—"  
  
"She kissed me."  
  
"—is. Wait what?"  
  
"Joohyun kissed me." If it were possible, the smaller girl was redder now than ever before.  
  
"Well, shit, hotshot. Come right in and tell me about it.")  
  
"And you know about Byul and Yongsun. They've been girlfriends since fifth grade and I'm 259% sure they're going to marry each other."  
  
Jaebum looks honestly surprised by the large amount information that Jeongyeon relayed to him. "Oh, wow, when I said that it was a thing I didn't think it would be this big of a thing in the women's baseball and cheerleading world. Wow."  
  
She laughs, downing the rest of the contents of her red cup. "Well, you better believe it."  
  
"So, no girlfriend for you right now?"  
  
Shaking her head, she tosses her cup into the non-biodegradable can. "Nah. You know. Practice. School. College application."

The captain of the men’s baseball team chuckles at that. “Suddenly you’re a nun after accepting that full scholarship. Remind me _never_ to take a scholarship when the school offers me one.”

She punches his arm. “Hey! First off, you’re rich. Second, I don’t always have to have a girlfriend unlike _someone_ here.”

Jaebum holds his hands up in mock-defeat. “Can’t help it; girls love me. Girls love you too, in case you’ve forgotten.”

She hasn’t. Leaving today’s match unscathed from all the fangirls (and boys) waiting by the bleachers had been tough. Jeongyeon tells Jaebum so, smushing her face with her hand in embarrassment. “Are you shy?” Jaebum teases. “Aww, the star of the women’s baseball team flustered by all the attention she gets. So cute.”

A brief silence envelopes the space between them until, "But really. Can't squeeze in a cheerleader romance? Come on, your game's better than that. You're the charismatic Yoo Jeongyeon, you can make anyone fall for your charms and charisma."

He says it so dramatically that Jeongyeon can't help but snort. She says nothing, only leaning forward into the counter and thinking of getting another cup, then Jaebum claps an arm on her back. "Say, what if we have a little bet."  
  
Bets with Jaebum or anyone from his team was monkey business, so she almost doesn't listen until he says, "what's on the line: my limited edition baseball cards."  
  
Her ears perk up visibly to that. She and Chaeng have been pestering him about those damned cards, so she just nods, squints at him, and lets him talk.  
  
"If you get to ask one of the cheerleader newbies out on at least three dates, you can have one-third of my cards."  
  
One-third? That's a lot for something so easy, she thinks and it dawns on her that he's putting his treasured cards on the line for something he knows she can't do. Jeongyeon squints at him, and takes the hand he offers her and grins, "Deal."  
  
That should show that asswipe that she's not a sissy.  
  
"Do I at least get to choose who to ask from the cheerleading team?"  
  
"Of course, but I don't think there's that much choices because you said they're all taken, so it's either a trainee or a newbie. Just a date, don't worry. You don't have to be in a relationship with them."  
  
Jeongyeon lets out a relieved breath. At least that's easy, she just doesn't have to make it work. "Seems easy enough," Jeongyeon shrugs and stands, dusting off her sweater and fixing her hair underneath her snapback, and walks to the place where the cheerleader usually hung out in Nayeon's house.  
  
She tries to remember the members who weren't taken but it's just the start of the season, so she hasn't had the chance to see all the new members except Tzuyu, who was Chaeyoung's girlfriend.  
  
"Hi, Jeongyeon," many girls from the fencing team maybe, greet her with giggles, when she passes by and she waves, shoots them a grin and they blush.  
  
They're at the bar, and she knows exactly what Nayeon's and Jihyo's backs look like so she approaches them first, covers both of their eyes with one hand on each their faces and they yell at her, knowing what Jeongyeon's rings felt like and what her perfume smelt like.  
  
"One of these days, you're going to give me a heart attack," Jihyo grimaces at her, and Jeongyeon only laughs.  
  
"What do you need, Jeongyeon," Nayeon turns, a girl with dark red hair under her arm and—The girl is pretty. Really pretty. So pretty even under the dim lighting the bar provides that Jeongyeon feels like she's underwater and can barely hear what Nayeon's saying.  
  
Everything else drowns out until she realize she's staring (rudely, at that) and Nayeon says, with a knowing smile, "Oh, Jeongyeon, this is Mina. She's our flyer, I don't think you've met yet. Mina, darling, this is Jeongyeon, my idiot ex girlfriend and the star of the baseball team, seconding my girlfriend, Park Jihyo."  
  
"Hi, nice to meet you," Mina offers shyly, licking her lips and Jeongyeon hasn't said anything, she should say something, but nothing comes out so Jeongyeon only bows which Mina returns wholeheartedly. She’s about to say something, anything at all when:  
  
"Ah, Im Nayeon. We haven't met in quite some time."  
  
Nayeon visibly tenses. Eight years of being in the same baseball league has tuned Jeongyeon to know whose voice had just spoken.  
  
"Moon Byulyi. What an unpleasant surprise,” Nayeon drawls. “To be fair, it hasn't been a long time. We met, earlier today. Your memory is failing you, Byulyi."  
  
Byulyi narrows her eyes. "Well, I haven't forgotten that fateful night _she_ held _my_ hand. Did you get to hold her hand? Ever? No."  
  
Nayeon gasps. "Soojung only held your hand because you intentionally slipped on a strategically-placed bar of soap by the sink and you nearly killed yourself!”  
  
Behind Byul comes the rest of the cheer team from RBW with their captain, along with their main pitcher, Wheein and the flyer of the cheer team, Hyejin. The two find their way to the swim team, though Yongsun makes her way to the bar with JYP Academy’s cheerleading team.  
  
"Hey, Jihyo, Jeongyeon, and you must be Mina, right?" Yongsun greets, kissing both of Jihyo's, Jeongyeon's and Mina's cheeks. “Sorry we’re late; Wheein had to feed her dog at home and dragged the four of us to her house only to find her mom there, and the dog already fed. Sheesh.”

“It’s fine,” Jihyo circles an arm around Yongsun. “Joohyun’s over there, by the pool, probably making out with Seulgi so I think it’s best if you see each other later.”

Yongsun grimaced at that latter part of Jihyo’s sentence, though she shakes her head. “Ah, well, young love. They’ve been pining for each other for some time now. Let them have their fun.”  
  
They talk for some time, Jeongyeon finding a place beside Mina. She decides to explain what was going on between Nayeon and Byul. "So this entire thing started when they were in freshman year," she leans forward and waves over the bartender of Nayeon's. "Hey, Jeong. Two strawberry martinis please," she turns to Mina once more. "You know Soojung, right? The flyer of SME Academy?"  
  
Mina nods and Jeongyeon continues. "Well, they've had a major crush on her and since then they've been squabbling over who liked Sooj more, even when they all got girlfriends."  
  
"Ah," Mina laughs. "I take this is a regular occurrence then?"  
  
Jihyo, Jeongyeon and Yongsun can only nod, watching amusedly when Byul and Nayeon's drunken squabble melts into a puddle of boisterous laughter from them both.  
  
"You weren't jealous, though?" Mina asks, after thanking Jeongyeon for that martini she bought her. "You know, of Nayeon having a crush on Soojung."  
  
Jeongyeon shakes her head, looks away because Mina's eyes are too damn pretty and she smells like clean laundry and cherries. "Nah, it was pretty harmless," she leans in closer and whispers conspiratorially, "and I think Soojung liked Byul more than Nayeon, but don't tell her I said that."  
  
Mina laughs again, and Jeongyeon likes the way it sounds—the way she smiles is so pretty and adorable because Jeongyeon can see her gums and, wow, those are some really pretty gums too.  
  
"I commence another round of Vodka pong!" Nayeon yells, and Jeongyeon holds out her hand for Mina to take, and she does. Her hand is smooth, not yet marred by calluses from holding up girls for pyramids.  
  
Jeongyeon forgets to ask Mina out the entire night, but she did enjoy one round of vodka pong and two hours of talking quietly at the bar until Mina had to go home, but not without a shy smile, a bow and a soft handshake which Jeongyeon returns warmly.

 

**_#2_**

 

Community service sucks ass.

Jeongyeon presses the trigger to spray water on plants she doesn't even give less of a shit about.

Hey, she's all about the environment and protecting it. She turned down her parents' offer to get her a truck and insisted on buying her a new bike.

She just... doesn't know how to take care of plants? All the flowers she had been given instantly died the next day. Her mother had never let her and Chaeyoung near the house plants, opting to make Seungyeon water them after The Incident. ("Jeongyeon, why did the plants die? What did you spray on them? You mean this? Good Lord, this is fabric conditioner for ironing!")

The plants seem well taken care of by the school staff, so Jeongyeon didn't see the point of sending her to water them for getting caught with her school blouse untucked from her skirt.

It's not humid, and the solitude the greenhouse gives her is comforting at most so Jeongyeon sprays some more and checks the time. 15 more minutes. She can spray water in silence for 600 seconds and maybe she can bail five minutes earlier.

The glass door of the greenhouse opens then closes, and Jeongyeon turns her head to the new presence inside the vast and quiet space.

Jeongyeon forgets that she left her glasses with Jihyo back at her 4th period classroom, and that she can't actually see the person who entered, though a soft, "Jeongyeon?" tells her exactly who it is.

"Mina?" She squints, though remembers Mina's voice, shy and husky.

"What are you doing here?" The girl is much closer now, Jeongyeon can see her face and—wow, the sunlight in the greenhouse creates a glow on her face that makes her so much prettier than the dim light of Nayeon's bar counter. It illuminates her long, red hair that shimmer and look soft underneath the sunlight and she's ethereal, Jeongyeon is sure she's an angel, even in her dirty yellow gloves and her messy green apron.

"I—uh...community service."

Mina gasps slightly. "Oh. What for?"

Jeongyeon looks down on her blouse, seeing that it's nearly tucked into her skirt now. "Ah, Council president Taecyeon saw me walking with my blouse untucked. Sent me here to, uh," she raised the spray bottle for Mina to see. "What brings you here?"

"Biology class; we had a hands-on activity and I was assigned to return these," Mina slightly lifts the box of shovels that Jeongyeon failed to notice initially, but Jeongyeon rushes to take the box from her, with mild protest with Mina. "Oh, you don't have to,"

"But I want to," she grins, lifting the box of shovels, not allowing any more room for Mina's arguments. Mina stops, blushes, but thanks here shyly and Jeongyeon thinks the pinkness of her cheeks looks infinitely better in the sunlight. "Where do these go?"

"Over there, in that shed." Mina points, and it's not far and Jeongyeon has no difficulty holding the box for her.

"Alright. Wait right here, I'll be right back."

She returns, dusting her hands off and is greeted by the sight of Mina, no longer in her gardening attire, inspecting a deep violet flower (God knows Jeongyeon doesn't know its name) so closely. It's so pretty Jeongyeon has to stop in her tracks to watch Mina admire such a simple, and it's honest-to-god a sight for sore eyes.

Mina stands, notices Jeongyeon has been standing and blushes. "Sorry, these flowers are lovely. You did a good job...watering them."

Heat crawls up her cheek and her brain wants to deny that she barely did anything to make that flower as it is now, she rubs the back of her neck and grins at her shoes. "Thanks." Jeongyeon looks up at Mina and is pleased by the blush that matches her own. "Uh, you going anywhere after this? We still have more than an hour before club hour."

"No, I don't think so. My laboratory teacher ended our class early so I've an hour, at least. Have you eaten lunch?"

She nods, and Mina deflates at that, though: "I'll join you."

 

The cafeteria is empty, so it rings with Mina's laughter when Jeongyeon tells her that time Sana yelled at a pitcher who had a bad aim and broke Momo's shoulder.

"Lord, it was that moment I was 150% sure that Sana was the third Antichrist," Jeongyeon tells her after swallowing her fruit. She isn't willing to show Mina her bad eating habits. Yet.

"And I thought Nayeon was scary."

Jeongyeon sips from her soda. "Nah, she's just like that when she needs to be. Like, auditions. Or training. But she's a real softie, I'm sure you know that; it seems like she's taken you under her wing." She briefly recalls that night the first time she met Mina, she was right under Nayeon's arm.

"Yeah, I think some girls are jealous that Nayeon likes me more than anyone else," Mina chuckles. "Even more than Tzuyu, but I think that's because she's evil to her. Though I think she lets Tzuyu be evil to her because other girls wouldn't even dare to be, you know, _Tzuyu_ to her."

("Tzuyu is the fucking devil," Nayeon slams the door of her room. "She's Satan's spawn, I say!"

Jeongyeon raises an eyebrow at her and halts bouncing a ball on Nayeon's bedroom wall. "Take her from the training team then. Isn't she, like, in 5th grade or something?"

"But I love heeeer," Nayeon falls flat on her face on the bed beside Jeongyeon. A muffled groan fills Jeongyeon's right ear.

Jeongyeon laughs and turns to her side. "Really? Even more than me?"

Nayeon turns, until she's face to face with Jeongyeon. "No, not even close."

Her expression is soft, open, and Jeongyeon loves her. She can't find anything to say, so she kisses Nayeon like all the countless times she's done before.)

She can hear the question in the short silence between them. Jeongyeon recalls Nayeon introducing her to Mina as her _idiot ex girlfriend_. Knowing Nayeon, she’s probably told Mina many stories but it seems like the girl wants confirmation. Or whatever.

"I really like how you and Nayeon and Jihyo are still good friends," Mina says, biting into the sandwich she bought for lunch. "I feel like if you were different people and weren't really good friends, things would be different."

"Nayeon's my best friend, Jihyo too. They made each other happy after Nayeon was miserable with me." She recalls a year after their breakup, Jihyo and Nayeon nervously told Jeongyeon and even she was surprised when she realized she was okay with it.

"I'm sorry," Mina shyly apologizes, "I shouldn't have asked."

"Don't be," Jeongyeon grins again, observing that it made Mina blush whenever she did. The girl is obviously embarrassed for asking, the least Jeongyeon can do is to smile at her. "I wanted them both to be happy," Jeongyeon tells Mina lightly, "they're my best friends. I didn't have the right to stand in their way."

Mina looks at her then, and Jeongyeon, not for the first time that day, thinks that she can pass hours and days and years just staring at her light brown eyes with silver flecks scattered about. "You're a good person, Jeongyeon."

There is a brief, awkward silence before Mina asks Jeongyeon about baseball and it goes pretty smoothly after that.

 

Jeongyeon volunteers to take Mina to her club room—she'll be late and Jihyo will make sure she suffers, but the way their knuckles softly brush against each other makes three laps around the baseball field under the scorching heat is worth it.

"Hey," Jeongyeon takes Mina's elbow, halting her from entering the cheerleader's training room. She makes sure to hide, so that Nayeon and the others don't see her. Are you free tonight, she means to say, without even thinking about her and Jaebum's agreement, though Mina's curious brown eyes disarm her momentarily and she forgets to say something all at once because, wow, Mina's eyes are really pretty. "I'll see you around, alright?"

 

**_#3_ **

 

It's dark and it's cold and the expanse of her legs exposed by her short, fitting black dress is freezing.

It doesn't feel right being here, at a ballet recital when Jeongyeon knows jackshit about ballet, and she couldn't care less about three guys and two girls dancing to Tchaikovsky.

Nayeon and Jihyo had dragged her (as per usual), said that it's a surprise who was performing and that the entire women's baseball and cheerleading squad will be joining. That meant Mina'll be there. She let them put makeup on her face, stuffed her into a black dress and heels and drove her to the auditorium of the most prestigious dance university in Seoul and when she saw Mina wasn't there, Jeongyeon was thoroughly disappointed until Dahyun told her Mina was going to perform. It's safe to say that she rushed to the front of the line to get front row seats with the rest of the cheerleaders and the baseball team.

That was two hours ago. Jeongyeon's eyelids droop for the sixth time that night until the audience applauds and, "Now, let us welcome the next dancer, Myoui Mina of JYP Academy." Jeongyeon's eyes fly right open and she's suddenly awake, sitting up properly unlike the way she has been slouching for the past two hours.

There is applause, then Mina walks onto the stage like it was thin glass and bows in such a graceful manner that Jeongyeon feels the gentleness coming off of her in waves.

The first few notes of Cavatina—Jeongyeon recognizes, because her dad always played it on the guitar—fills the auditorium and Mina stretches her arms ever so gracefully, then hops slightly to do that ballerina tiptoe thing that she knows can only be done after years and years of practice.

Mina moves so smoothly, like the chord progression and the way she imagined fingers moving across the strings. Mina moves with gentleness, as if the floor were filled with egg shells that even the leap she makes is almost soundless, cat-like at most.

Jeongyeon watches with awe, her jaw hanging open and she feels enamored by Mina, not for the first time as she leaps once more in the air, only to land on her feet perfectly and with precision, as every movement that Jeongyeon has seen.

She can watch Mina dance forever, Jeongyeon thinks, she wants this to go on forever. She wants her eyes to be on Mina while she dances to beautiful music as if she were the music.

It's over too soon, and the applause is drowned out by the sound of the blood pumping in Jeongyeon's ears and she doesn't even realize that Mina has left the stage (and she firmly believes that Mina belongs to that stage, more than any other performer ever).

A hand finds the underside of Jeongyeon's chin, pushing upwards to close it and that's when she realized that her jaw has been hanging the entire performance, and that she is sat, literally, at the edge of her seat.

"Jeongyeon, you're drooling," Sana giggles, pinching Jeongyeon's cheek. "Mina's great, isn't she?"

Heat crawls at the back of Jeongyeon’s neck. “Yeah. Yeah, she really is.”

 

The performance ends and they’re waiting as a group for Mina to come out. She does so, with a bouquet of roses from her parents and the cheer team take her into a tight embrace while the baseball team watches fondly from the sides.

Sana pushes (or manhandles) Mina to Jeongyeon in a way that no one would think she can, and they’re left facing each other, Mina in her black, fitting spandex that is doing things to Jeongyeon’s nerves.

"I..." Jeongyeon starts, clutching the bouquet of lilies, wrapped in brown paper. _Will you go out with me_ is at the edge of her tongue, but, "You did great, Mina."

She mentally kicks herself for chickening out of asking Mina out, though the smile that graces Mina's face—the exact same smile, only brighter, that Jeongyeon saw that night after the first game of the season—was worth her embarrassment.

(Not to mention that she's not about to get publicly rejected in front of her teammates and Mina's teammates, if Mina ever said no.)

"Thank you, Jeongyeon," she says shyly, looking away. Nayeon and Jihyo elbow her in the ribs at the same time to remind her of the flowers she's holding. "These are for me?"

Jeongyeon can only nod, though she does so with a small smile. She's not sure if the blush was because of this small, shy exchange between them or from the performance itself though she chooses not to think about that.

 

They have a late dinner at Mina's house, and Mina doesn't leave Jeongyeon's side the entire night, not even when they're having dinner and Mina's mom eyes her curiously (though not ominously) across the table.

When the teams leave, Mina brings them to her door, Jeongyeon lagging behind.

“Did you forget something?” Mina asks, brows furrowed.

She shakes her head, taking her jacket from the hanger by the door. When Jeongyeon slips it on and is about to zip it up when Mina laughs. “You’re wearing the wrong side, Jeongyeon,” she tuts, coming to Jeongyeon’s aid and helping her wear it properly. It’s a little awkward, Mina is so close Jeongyeon can smell her soap ( _cherry, so nice_ ) and her hands are on her body and she forgets how to breathe the entire time.

Mina zips up her jacket for her. Unnecessary, but Jeongyeon will have appreciated it if her heart wasn’t about to beat out of her chest. “T-thanks for that,” she tries to grin but it fails and Mina just laughs again.

Jeongyeon really likes Mina’s laugh.

Jeongyeon really likes Mina’s smile.

Jeongyeon really—

“You know, we’ve been talking for some time but I still don’t have your number,” she pulls her phone out of her pocket, touches the home button and opens the phone app, handing it to Mina. “I want to fix that.”

The girl gives her a look, a hybrid between sly and shy, if that were possible and takes the phone, punches in her number and hands it back to Jeongyeon.

“Yoo Jeongyeon, what is taking you so long!” Momo yells from the lawn, earning an elbow to the ribs from Sana, looking snug against Momo under her arm.

“Yeah, you idiot,” Chaeng echoes the loudness of Momo’s yell. “Mina has better things to do than talk to you.”

Jeongyeon’s palm finds her forehead as she pockets her phone. Mina giggles. “If it offers you comfort, I like talking to you, so don’t listen to them.”

“Thanks,” Jeongyeon tells her, still ready to maim Momo and her sister. “You know. For dinner. And healing my wounded ego.” She exaggerates clutching her heart.

Mina reaches across and clasps her hand over her heart. “Anything for your wounded ego.”

They watch each other for some time, and pull away when they realize the position they’re in and wow, _why is it so hot right now_?

Clearing her throat, Jeongyeon speaks first. “I, uh, better go now. You were wonderful today. Congratulations.”

“Thank you,” Mina smiles. “See you real soon.”

She catches up with the rest of her friends and Jeongyeon realized hasn’t asked Mina out yet, though she does have her number. That’s something.

 

 **[11:33:31 PM]** Mina! This is Jeongyeon. Hi :) **  
**

 

It takes a few seconds, then three dots appear, telling her that Mina is typing a response. Jeongyeon waits with giddiness, (“You have such an ugly grin,” Chaeyoung comments from their dresser) and receives a response.

 

 **[11:34:40] Myoui Mina:** Jeongyeon who? **  
**

 

She stares at her phone for a few seconds, disbelieving. Did Mina give her the wrong number…? Until:

 

 **[11:34:45] Myoui Mina:** I’m kidding. Hi Jeongyeon~ Got home safely?

 

In the morning, she doesn’t regret being late to training because Jeongyeon had been talking with Mina until the break of dawn and there was _no way in hell_ she was going to regret spending that with Myoui Mina.

 

**_#4_ **

 

It's a cold night, much more so after Jeongyeon's post-match shower at SME Academy's gym. The baseball team's still at stand-by at the parking, waiting for the bus and the cheer team who changed at a farther shower room.

They lost, though it had been a good game with Red Velvet and they intended to see them and other teams at the local barbecue and karaoke bar nearby.

She pulls a hoodie from her bag and almost wears it until she realizes that it's a cheerleader's letterman jacket; Jeongyeon doesn't even have to guess who owned it, so she hangs it on her forearm and waits for the cheer team with the rest of the baseball team.

They arrive, one by one and pair up with their specific girlfriends, and Jeongyeon doesn't even notice the implications of Mina pairing up with her because the girl walks to her in a gorgeous black turtleneck and jeans that hug her long legs so well Jeongyeon can't stop staring.

"Hi," she says dumbly; it's the safest thing to say that isn't between the lines of _you're so beautiful_ and _I like you, a lot._ She hands over the sweater she found in her bag, because Jeongyeon can't find anything right to do with hands that isn't brushing stray strands of Mina's hair away from her pink, round cheeks and Jeongyeon momentarily wonders if they're as soft as they look.

"Oh, thank you," Mina smiles, taking the sweater and slipping it on, obviously avoiding the appreciative stare Jeongyeon is currently giving her. "Have you been waiting long? Nayeon ran into Yongsun and Yongsun just yelled about Byulyi being an idiot all the time.”

“Ah, they do that a lot. Especially when Nayeon was with me. Byul and I are idiots and sometimes we do the same, only we yelled about how difficult Nayeon and Yongsun are,” she leans in closer to Mina and whispers, “Don’t tell Nayeon, but two years after our breakup I still yell about her to Byul, because she’s annoying.”

Mina giggles. “Okay. I don’t think you’re an idiot, though.”

It’s meant to be a polite comment, though the soft way Mina says accompanied with her shy smile makes Jeongyeon feel warmer than her jacket—makes Jeongyeon feel like maybe she isn’t an idiot. Maybe she doesn’t miserably fuck up everything in her life.

She can’t speak, her heart feels too big for her chest and Jeongyeon notices it’s been happening often around Mina. When they’re texting, or when they’re having dinner with the team, or when it’s practice and Jeongyeon catches Mina’s eyes across the field.

Mina with her quiet laugh. Mina with her soft hands. Mina with her gummy grin with a glint of a silver tooth.

Mina keeps Jeongyeon on her toes and Jeongyeon can’t do anything but try to reach higher.

She hasn’t felt like this is in a long time. Not with Nayeon, not with Suzy. Nayeon had always been there—it had been expected of them to fall in love. Her feelings for Nayeon had been there, for as long as she can remember. And for Suzy, it had been fast, instant, and fizzled quicker than it began.

With Mina—it was a slow climb, and it’s only now she allows herself to topple over the edge when Mina watches her with her curious brown eyes that disarm her each time. With Mina—she sees all the moments that led to this, in the cold, under a streetlamp at the parking lot with Mina so close to her that she could just lean in and kiss her, but _no, not yet._

“I… thanks,” she says, because she doesn’t know anything else to say when Mina says these things to her. She’s supposed to be the _unflappable Yoo Jeongyeon_ but here she stands, greatly flustered by small gestures from Myoui Mina. She noticed that even with her jacket on, Mina’s gripping her elbows in what Jeongyeon assumes is an attempt to keep warm. “You cold?”

Mina chuckles, her breath condensing in the cold air. “A little.”

She doesn’t need to say anything else before Jeongyeon removes her zip-up hoodie and places it around Mina’s back before wrapping an arm around Mina, bringing her even closer to her own body than she has been before.

“I—Jeongyeon,” Mina stammers, moving to remove Jeongyeon’s sweater but Jeongyeon stops her before she can go any further. “You’ll get cold!”

“The bus is over there, let’s walk quickly,” she hugs Mina closer. In the past, she’d only gotten whiffs of Mina’s cherry scent but now it’s right under her nose and Jeongyeon feels drunk, wants to drown in Mina’s scent. 

They walk like that, Jeongyeon’s arm around Mina while they talk and it’s definitely warm; Jeongyeon’s blushing and Mina’s body heat seeping into her own clothes and there is no place she’d rather be. 

She's about to ask,  _hey, let's get dinner, just us two_ , when:

“Leave room for Jesus, lovebirds!” Nayeon yells, hanging onto the handle on the exterior of the bus. Jeongyeon politely flips her the bird and tightens her arm around Mina.

She doesn’t notice the sly looks exchanged between the team members because Mina links her hand with Jeongyeon’s and it stays like that throughout the trip to the local barbecue.

 

It’s a hot day and it’s almost the last game of the season and Jeongyeon’s taking the last hit. The sun scorches her skin and the crowd’s cheers nearly deafen her but it fills her nerves with adrenaline instead.

Jeongyeon takes a deep breath. Tightens her grip on her bat.

She looks to her side, sees Mina watching her with a large smile that has never failed to make Jeongyeon feel warm and light and safe. The girl pumps a fist, mouths a small _hwaiting_ , lost in the sea of chants of her name. A different kind of warmth takes over her now, a kind of warmth that fills her nerves and she recognizes it as adrenaline and she smiles back, adds a wink.

She drowns out the screams of the crowd and watches Seulgi throw the first pitch.

The delivery is excellent.

But Jeongyeon hits the ball with her bat and it flies right out of the park.

 

**_#5_ **

 

In the quiet of the cafeteria, Jeongyeon eats her burger, reading her notes for a quiz she forgot to study for and even though it’s a futile attempt to get a perfect score in Asian Hist, it’s still worth a shot.

She checks her phone for texts from Mina, in response to a bunch of texts Jeongyeon’s been sending since last night. It’s weird. Mina always replied. _Maybe she’s studying right now_ , Jeongyeon thinks, and lets it go.

There is a presence that materialize in front of her, disrupting the peace and quiet and she knows it’s JIhyo before she even looks up from the scribbles on her yellow pad.

“You won’t believe who’s here,” the team captain tells her, leaning across to whisper loudly.

“Mmm,” Jeongyeon hums noncommittally, ignoring Jihyo for Dahyun’s notes. This quiz is more important than anyone in the school premises now.

“Dammit, Jeongyeon!” Her best friend yanks the sheets from her hands, demanding Jeongyeon’s attention fully and she does finally give her attention, exasperatedly so, with half masticated bread in her mouth.

“Whah d’you wahn?” Jeongyeon complains and grapples for the notes that Jihyo holds farther away from her.

“It’s Suzy. She’s here.”

That’s enough to make Jeongyeon stop struggling, the contents of her mouth almost falling back to its plate with her heart.

 

Nayeon never liked Suzy, as the girlfriend that came after her and as the successor of the team captain of the cheerleading team, so Jeongyeon wasn’t surprised when they both sat on different ends of the room, Suzy on one side, surrounded by the men’s baseball team.

“Hey, J! Look who’s here,” Jackson yells from where he’s sat.

“Hi, Suzy,” she humors Suzy a small smile. “Nice to see you. College is doing you great.”

She smiles that big smile of hers that would have had fifteen-year-old Jeongyeon down on her knees in an instant. But she isn’t that person now. Suzy’s grin barely holds a candle to Mina’s smile. “J2, darling, nice to see you!” She notices Jihyo trailing behind her and waves at her too. “J1, you’re looking great too. Thanks for taking good care of my Jeongyeonnie right here.”

 _I’m not your Jeongyeonnie,_ she frowns, though accepts the tight embrace that Suzy envelopes her in.

“It’s no problem,” Jihyo replies, politely and just about that, with a tinge of dislike that Suzy doesn’t catch. “I’ll leave you guys here; I have to meet with the freshman for junior leage. It was nice seeing you, Suzy.”

“Nice seeing you too, J1.” She blows a kiss to Jihyo, who looks less than pleased, and Jeongyeon can feel a headache coming on. “So, Jeongyeon, tell me. How’s Junior year life? Any new girls I should know about?”

Just when Jeongyeon thought nothing could be worse than her ex girlfriend visiting and putting her on a hot seat as she always did, Mina enters the training room and meets her eye and all she could do is wish that she doesn’t find out who Suzy is, and who Suzy was to her. The room feels smaller in an instant and she wants out, immediately.

To make matters worse, Jackson sees Mina within his premises. “Oh, Mina! Come over here,” Jackson yells (he should really stop yelling because Jeongyeon will deck him square in the face if he doesn’t shut the hell up this instant). Mina raises her eyebrows, looks to Nayeon and refuses to look at Jeongyeon, who silently pleads for her not to come closer but alas, she makes her way to Suzy and Jackson and Jeongyeon and all she can do is pray to any higher being that would answer that this won’t go to shit. “Suzy, this is Mina, the new flyer of the team _and_ she’s Jeongyeon’s new—”

Jeongyeon’s hand finds his mouth before it’s too late.  

She’s about to continue his sentence, but she realizes everything that she says will work against her and really, she’s not about to be roasted in front of the girl she likes.

Mina, the angel she is, smiles and bows and ignores Jeongyeon completely. “Honored to meet you, Suzy. I’m Myoui Mina.”

“You’re very pretty,” Suzy smiles, and decides that she’s probably bored with Mina and while Jeongyeon would strongly protest to that, in this situation, she’s glad when it seems like Mina has been dismissed.

Her stay remains quite uneventful, though Jeongyeon meets Mina’s eyes across the room and a painful push she feels between her ribs when Mina would frown slightly and look away.

 

The bell rings and Jeongyeon finds her way out of the training room, where she often waits for Mina. She doesn’t know if they’re still on for their Monday bookshop visits, where Jeongyeon watches Mina find new books to read, her fingers brushing against the spines of new books and it’s really a sight for sore eyes.

It’s not really a date, but it also sort of is, and Jeongyeon wants it to be one.

So she’s going to ask. Right now. And Mina leaves the training room, just in time but when she meets Jeongyeon’s eyes and doesn’t return her smile, swerving to the right to avoid her completely, Jeongyeon’s heart sinks and she’s hot on Mina’s heels before she knows it.

“Hey,” Jeongyeon starts, but Mina’s quick pace even grows quicker, the only acknowledgement she gives Jeongyeon’s presence.

“Hey!” She tries a little louder, considering that it’s noisy in the hallways and she can’t even hear herself think, a hand to Mina’s elbow and when Mina looks back at her her eyes are stormy and she’s frowning even more so, before she yanks away her arm from Jeongyeon’s touch.

“Don’t ‘hey’ me,” Mina spits. It seems like she has more things to say, but she settles with, “Go away, Jeongyeon.”

“Mina, what’s—I don’t understand,” Jeongyeon says, more so to herself than to Mina and then it hits her just as the same time Mina’s face crumples and her eyes are red and her nose is blotched and—fuck—

“Maybe you should bet with Jaebum then, maybe you’ll ‘remember,’”

Her heart drops and while it’s completely true she forgot about her and Jaebum’s bet, because she _liked_ Mina, _truly liked_ Mina, it doesn’t make her less of an asshole. “I—” Jeongyeon starts, and there is nothing she can say that will make this better but she tries anyway. “How—Mina, it’s not what you think,”

“Jackson told me last night at a party and he was drunk but I’m sure he would have told me even if he was sober.”

Jackson,  _fuck_ , she had forgotten Jaebum told Jackson _everything_. She opens her mouth to say something, anything at all but Mina cuts in. “Save, it, Jeongyeon.” the younger girl warns. She’s never seen Mina this upset. “Please, just go away.”

The small ache between her chest multiplies into a nearly crippling one when she sees a few tears roll down Mina’s cheeks, so Jeongyeon pulls her gently to the side, to a secluded and empty room, away from the busy hallway. “Let me explain, please,” Jeongyeon pleads, and she is _so_ close to being desperate. “Mina. Please.”

“I don’t want to hear it,” repeats Mina, turning away from Jeongyeon but she hasn’t left yet, so maybe that’s a good thing. There is a short amount of silence but it’s tense, like a rope tightly pulled at the ends.

It’s too much for her to bear, so Jeongyeon starts. “I forgot about it. I forgot about it and I’m… an idiot.”

Mina laughs, though it’s sad and she sniffles right after. “Yeah, you really are one.”

Jeongyeon can’t say anything to that, only nod in agreement and shame.

The tense silence ensues once more.

Then Mina’s voice fills the quiet and it rings out, despite her gentle voice.“Why are you still here? Why don’t you make another bet with Jaebum and ask one of your fan girls out? I bet they’ll be easier than me.”

Jeongyeon frowns at that. “Mina, you don’t understand—”

“Just because you’re _the_ Yoo Jeongyeon doesn’t mean you can play with me.” The other girl’s voice cracks. “Not anymore, anyway.”

Jeongyeon’s heart sinks. _Is she saying what I think she’s saying_? No. No! “Myoui Mina, I li—”

A bitter laugh escape Mina’s pretty mouth as nshe shakes her head, looking at her shoes. “God, I’m such an idiot. Of course liking the star of the baseball team is going to get me here.”

“You don’t understand—wait, what?”

Myoui Mina just what?

It sinks in slowly and head is spinning, and god, she likes Myoui Mina too and—“You what?”

What she had just said seems to hit Mina too, a beat late than Jeongyeon did, though if she is surprised, she doesn’t show so; only wipes at her eyes furiously.

“Mina… you like me?”

She finally meets Jeongyeon’s eyes and it’s dark and upset and it breaks Jeongyeon’s heart even more. “I did. I do,” she says, sniffing, and, with more conviction, “I _shouldn’t._ ”

Before Jeongyeon can say anything in between the lines of “I like you too,” and “Please don’t give up on me,” and “I’m an idiot, I’m sorry,” Mina turns on her heels, running away and Jeongyeon’s brain doesn’t even catch up on that bit of information five minutes later until she realizes she’s alone, in a dark room, with her back against the wall thinking, _I have to fix this._

 

She checks her phone once more but she’s not surprised to be disappointed again, with Mina ignoring her texts and not answering her calls.

The moment Nayeon opens the door of her house, Jeongyeon says, “I fucked up.”

Nayeon doesn’t seem the least bit surprised, only looks at Jeongyeon with a blank stare and says, “I know. Come in.”

The moment Jeongyeon takes off her shoes, sitting on the arm of the many couches in the Im residence, Nayeon closes the front door and crosses her arms.

“Explain yourself.”

Nayeon is barely ever stern, though with the few times she is, it really fucking scares the living daylights out of Jeongyeon.

“It was a bet with Jackson to just go ask her out but it completely slipped my mind,” Jeongyeon starts because there’s no point in lying, no point in not telling Nayeon when Nayeon knows _everything_ about her. She was the asshole in this and she knew it, so there was no point in lying. “I couldn’t ask her because I...like her so much.”

“Like her so much but you couldn’t ask her out?” Nayeon scoffs, shifts her weight to her other foot but her furious eyes never leaves Jeongyeon’s. “That’s so unlike you. I don’t buy this bullshit of yours.”

“I like her a lot, alright!” Jeongyeon snaps, her face heating up. She was an asshole, but this, she cannot deny. “I like her a lot and I was _scared_ to ask her out. I like her a lot and forgot about the bet. I like her a lot and I’m and idiot  and I fucked it up.” Her eyes sting when the last sentence leaves her mouth because she’s suddenly struck with the idea of not having to check her phone with texts from Mina, or having dinner with Mina and the teams, or their Monday book visits, or their—

Tears roll down her cheeks before she knows it, the pain between her chest at its peak, making it difficult to breathe because, fuck, this was _all_ her fault. Jeongyeon digs the heels of her palm to her eyes even deeper—it hurt, it hurt a lot, and _fuck_ she wanted Mina so much and now she’s—

Nayeon lets her cry it out, though despite being furious a few moments ago and she leans into the comfort that Nayeon offers when the girl wraps her arms around her in an embrace that is one of the most familiar things in Jeongyeon’s life.

“I need to f-fix this,” she hiccups, wiping her tears furiously and Nayeon offers that annoying dark brown blanket that’s been on the couch since forever. Jeongyeon is too upset at herself to even hesitate in taking it to clean her face. “I need her to believe me. I need your help.”

Her best friend looks skeptical for a few passing moments, and while Nayeon could never have said no to Jeongyeon on other times, there was good reason for Nayeon to doubt her now. She places her hands together and she’s _this_ close to kneeling when she says, “Nayeon, I… I like her so much. I have to fix this. You know me, Nayeon. Please.”

The older girl watches her and two years with Nayeon tells Jeongyeon that she’s reading her—sorting through her messy brain. No one did it better to her than Im Nayeon. She sighs, looks her dead in the eye. “Yes, yes I do.”

Jeongyeon nearly bursts into tears and she throws her arms around Nayeon’s neck, pulls her into a crushing hug. “Thank you.”

Nayeon laughs softly and returns the embrace. “I love that girl, Yoo Jeongyeon. I don’t want to see both of you hurting each other like this.”

“More than me?” she laughs, and buries her nose into the other girl’s shoulder.

“Mmm, a close second. Except you’re an idiot. So maybe I love you less.”

That pulls a laugh from Jeongyeon. “Yeah, I love you too.”

Nayeon pulls away and holds her by the shoulder, shaking it just like she does when Jeongyeon is nervous. “So. What did you have in mind?”

 

**_+1_ **

 

“At least tell me where Nayeon is,” Mina asks Tzuyu, who has made it her business to manhandle her to move up to the stairs and into Nayeon’s room. “She called for a meeting ten minutes earlier…”

“I told you, she’s in her room!” an exasperated Tzuyu tells her and honestly, it’s been really weird for her to be acting this way though Mina doesn’t bring it up. “Come on, Nayeon will turn that frown upside down. You know how she doesn’t like it when any of us are sad.”

She’s right. Ever since Nayeon had noticed her puffy eyes, she’d been so determined to cheer her up and one way or another, she’d managed to find out about what had happened and she had been _livid_ about it. Mina didn’t want any tension between the baseball and the cheer team, so she practically begged for Nayeon not to start anything with Jeongyeon, even if she was her best friend.

Despite the cheer team’s, especially Nayeon’s, attempts in cheering her up, it had been futile. She missed Jeongyeon dearly, missed her Spotify playlists and dumb vines, and missed the way she’d wait for her after training even after her own team had left. She missed the way their knuckles brushed softly against one another and the shy way Jeongyeon would pull away her hand, only to scoot a little closer, thinking Mina doesn’t notice but Mina _notices_ , notices the smallest things about Jeongyeon—the way she’d started to chew with her mouth open, the way she’d put her arm around Mina when there are too many people surrounding them and how her slender fingers slotted neatly between hers, the rough pads of her thumb touching the skin of her hand.

Mina misses Jeongyeon and maybe she should have let her explain, but it was too painful then and it’s still painful now, though it’s been days since Jeongyeon’s message spam and maybe it’s too late to patch things up between them.

They’re at Nayeon’s bedroom’s door. For some odd reason, she’s nervous, though the hands Tzuyu has on her shoulders is enough to calm the niggling feeling of anxiety residing within her. “Get in there,” Tzuyu chuckles, tilting her head towards the door and while Mina would have raised an eyebrow at anyone her junior telling her what to do, she laughs it off and pinches the skin of Tzuyu’s arm and lets it slide because, well, she’s Tzuyu.

She turns the knob, pushes the heavy oak doors of Nayeon’s room open, “Hey, Nayeon, you called,” but she’s greeted by an empty room. “Nayeon?”

There’s music playing from the outside, and she knows that song—her mom used to listen to it all the time, and it’s in that one movie with John Cusack holding a boombox above his head and—

“M-Mina,” a voice calls out from the balcony.

It’s Jeongyeon.

On a ladder leaning against the balcony of Nayeon’s room.

Soaking wet in the rain.

With her shirt clinging to her glorious arms.

The other girl is shivering, Mina can see it in the way she grips the edges of the ladder she’s using.

“Yoo Jeongyeon, are you _insane_?!” Mina hisses, rushes to help her in and gets drenched in the process. When she tries to haul Jeongyeon onto the balcony space, she resists, which results into her almost toppling backwards on the ladder, giving Mina a heart attack.

“I’m not coming inside until you let me explain,” Jeongyeon stubbornly says when she regains her balance and Mina just wants her to get in so they don’t die of hypothermia so she nods, and thinks that yeah, she would have let Jeongyeon explain either way. “I’m sorry I’m an asshole, Myoui Mina. I’m an asshole and I can’t lie about that bet but believe me when I say I’m sorry and that I forgot because…” Jeongyeon looks her dead in the eye and continues, “I forgot about that stupid bet because all the time we spent together was because I like you. A lot. I like so you much I forgot about that stupid bet and I like you that you deserve better than being asked out just because of a bet—and I just wanted to tell you before it’s too late but you hesitated before and I don’t really know what you feel now, and I’m rambling, I’m sorry,” Jeongyeon laughs sadly and sniffs and even though it’s raining, Mina can see the tears in her eyes—and her own sting with tears too.

“Jeongyeon,” Mina starts, because right now she doesn’t know _exactly_ what to do except look at Jeongyeon—because it was too much and she liked this girl too much too.

“What I’m saying is,” Jeongyeon sniffs, letting go of one of the ladder’s handle to wipe at her face. “I’m sorry that I’m an idiot and… and you are _so_ much more than a silly bet. I like you so, _so_ much and  if you can find it in yourself to forgive me for being an idiot...”

The rain is seeping through her clothes and it’s cold and she’s shivering and so is Jeongyeon, but she’s looking into Jeongyeon’s eyes, so soft and so sincere and Mina realizes she’s forgiven Jeongyeon hours after walking away from that dark classroom. That Jeongyeon isn’t one of those douchebags that just go around, taking girls from left to right. Jeongyeon is Jeongyeon, funny and kind and always, _always_ gentle with her.

Jeongyeon takes a deep breath, shivers, tightens her grip on the ladder and says, “...please like me again, Min—mmph,”

Jeongyeon’s lips are wet and cold from the water but she makes an adorable surprised sound that it makes Mina warm, forgetting that her shirt is heavy, drenched with cold rain. It’s nice and soft and Jeongyeon tastes like bubblegum. Mina leans against the rails because she wants more, the once painful ache in her chest fading into a fairly pleasant one, and she holding Jeongyeon’s face closer then when Jeongyeon opens her mouth to the kiss with a shy tongue brushing against her bottom lip, it makes her feel warm in all the places that she could have made the water on her skin evaporate right then and there.

Her heart drops when she realizes she’s wanted this for quite some time but this _want_ to kiss Jeongyeon had peaked that day at the recital, with Jeongyeon and her flowers and the zip of her jacket getting stuck. Her heart drops because she’d wanted this and now it’s here and the kiss is just as amazing as she had imagined it at night and at times of the day where she should _definitely_ not think about Jeongyeon kissing her.

Mina pulls away, it’s been getting harder and harder to breathe because of the water sliding between their faces but believe her when she says she’d want to keep kissing Jeongyeon for the rest of her life--and holds Jeongyeon by the wet fabric of her shirt and Jeongyeon’s eyes are blown wide and she’s blushing to the roots of her hair.

“I—wow,” stutters Jeongyeon, her hand rubbing her face. “You just—I just,”

“Yeah,” Mina laughs, counts the droplets of water hanging on Jeongyeon’s eyelashes. “We just did.”

She softly knocks their heads together, both of their wet hair sticking to each other’s foreheads and she’s too content to move, ignoring the rain that beats against their bodies.

The song, Mina notices when her senses finally tuned to something else that wasn’t Jeongyeon, has been playing on loop and she looks down to see Jihyo holding the source of the music above her head. Chaeyoung and Sana and Dahyun are holding the ladder that Jeongyeon’s still standing on.

Her brows furrow when she sees that Nayeon’s lawn is dry, and that the four of them don’t seem drenched in rain at all.

“Congratulations, lovebirds,” a voice calls from above, “leave room for Jesus!”

Nayeon and Momo hold hoses in their hands, spraying ‘rain’ on the two of them and Nayeon laughs and waves while Momo gives them the thumbs up. Mina laughs, too, turning to Jeongyeon who has this goofy grin on her face, watching Mina intently. The two girls on the roof twist the knob with a squeak and the ‘rain’ stops at once.

“You know, if you wanted this to be like _Say Anything_ , you should be the one holding the boom box like Jihyo’s holding it right now,” Mina explains.

(“I’m bored,” Jeongyeon says on the other side of the line.

Mina laughs. “Come over? I’ll whip up some lasagna and we can watch a movie.”

“What did you have in mind? Does Netflix have it?”

“Yup. It’s _Say Anything_. You know, the iconic boombox scene.”

There’s a soft rustling on the other side of the phone. “A romcom from the late 80s? You sure I won’t sleep through this?”

“Hey! You enjoyed Serendipity, didn’t you? Do you _not_ trust my classic romcom taste?”

Jeongyeon makes a sound of defeat. “Alright, I do. You win. Let’s watch this tonight.”)

“But I can’t voice out my apology with _just_ that damn song,” Jeongyeon pouts, though she knows that Mina’s just teasing her. “I have to be up here, drenched in the rain, with you. It’s extra romantic. The cheesy 80s movie lover in you can’t resist it.”

Mina’s heart thumps heavily against her chest and she raises a hand, touches Jeongyeon’s cheek. “Yeah. I couldn’t resist.”

Before she can say any more, a crackle of thunder startles all of them. Nayeon yells from above, and while Mina would have been concerned about her, Jeongyeon’s ladder is falling backwards, taking Jeongyeon with it and Mina leans across to grab at Jeongyeon’s shirt before she falls off completely but somehow the, too, nearly topples along with her but two strong arms circle around her waist, pulling the two of them back and Jeongyeon into the balcony, the two of them slumping onto the marble flooring of Nayeon’s balcony.

Mina’s arms are wrapped around Jeongyeon’s head, currently buried into her stomach and when Mina looks up, Tzuyu is watching them with a mix of amusement and worry.

“Thanks, Tzuyu. I owe you one.” A groan from Jeongyeon grumbles across her damp clothes. “I owe you two, actually.”

The tall girl only laughs, leaving the two of them alone. Nayeon and Momo seem to have left, and it’s really just the two of them now.

“Hi.” Jeongyeon greets after lifting her head from Mina’s stomach. She looks at Mina, with her short brown hair sticking to her face.

Mina grins, replies with a shy, “Hi.”

Another crack of thunder rings from the sky, only now it’s accompanied by _real_ rain. “This isn’t part of your plan, is it?”

Jeongyeon laughs. “No, not that I can remember.”

They stay like that, only moving (with hesitation) when the rain gets stronger, walking inside Nayeon’s room, careful not to get anything important wet.

There are towels on the bed and they dry each other off and Jeongyeon’s messy hair that sticks to all directions is _so very endearing_ that Mina can’t help but run her hands through the short strands.

Later, they kiss when they’re dressed in new, dry clothes. It’s so much better than the first, and it’s warm and makes Mina feel warm all over because Jeongyeon holds her by the waist, kissing her so fervently it’s driving her crazy and she will _never_ get enough, so Mina only wraps her arms around Jeongyeon’s neck to get closer, threading her hands through Jeongyeon’s hair.

They pull away after what seems like hours, just standing in Nayeon’s room and chasing each other’s lips, and Mina decides to ask, “Go out with me, Yoo Jeongyeon,” she says quietly, can’t look anywhere else except Jeongyeon’s eyes. “Let’s have dinner. Or go to the arcade. Wherever you want to go.”

Jeongyeon looks surprised, but she grins that large grin Mina loves so much, gives Mina some more toe-curling kisses. “I’ve been meaning to ask you that for some time,” Jeongyeon admits with shyness. “It took me at least five tries but… it’s a date, then, Myoui Mina?”

Nodding, Mina chews on her lip to stop herself from smiling too much. “Yeah. It’s a date.”

 

**_++1_ **

 

Jeongyeon finds her seat in the booth, setting down the milkshake she and Mina are sharing.

“Thanks,” Mina smiles up at her and Jeongyeon leans down for a kiss.  

Jihyo turns to Byulyi and Yongsun, who were currently sharing a burger. “Sorry, it’s the honeymoon phase.”

RBW’s cheer captain only laughs. “Don’t be sorry. We’ve all been there.”

Their bi-annual lunches before the league resumes goes flawlessly until the moment Byulyi turns to Jeongyeon, wrapping her arm around her. “So, tell me, Jeongyeon, because I _have_ been meaning to ask, have you—”

Both turning white as a sheet, Yongsun and Jihyo yell, “Byul, _don’t!_ ” at the exact moment Nayeon claps her hands over Chaeyoung and Tzuyu’s ears.

“—hit homerun with Mina yet?”

This earns Byulyi a punch to her arm from her own girlfriend. Jihyo only pinches the bridge of her nose, but she’s laughing along with Nayeon, and while Chaeyoung and Tzuyu heard _nothing_ , Jeongyeon and Mina both flush at Byulyi’s question.

Jeongyeon tries so very hard not to get flustered by it, even after they’ve finished reprimanding Byulyi. It must have been very obvious that she’s stressed by the question, until Mina’s hand finds hers under the table. Jeongyeon lifts her chin to look at Mina, who, while her cheeks are still tinged with pink, smiles at her and Jeongyeon feels the stress and embarrassment leave her body the moment Mina squeezes her hand.

She kisses Mina and she tastes like their strawberry milkshake and it’s seriously one of her favorite things in the world.


End file.
